Toyota Gazoo Racing will now just be Gazoo Racing and serve as ‘Yota’s standalone performance division.
By Chris Chin
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It’s official: Gazoo Racing is now Toyota’s performance subbrand. The automaker officialized the move ahead of its press conferences at the Tokyo Auto Salon.
Years in the making, Toyota’s motorsports division grew at a rapid pace, becoming a fixture and symbol of performance for Japan’s largest automaker. So yes, that means Gazoo Racing, or GR, is basically what NISMO is to Nissan, M is to BMW and AMG is to Mercedes-Benz, and so-on.
What does that mean? Well, for starters, that means we can expect a whole new influx of fast and fun cars from the brand that was once seen as “the most boring carmaker alive.”
A short while ago, ago Toyota and Lexus shocked the world with the GR GT supercar and the LFA Concept. The automotive world started getting the hint when the GR GT didn’t feature any Toyota insignias or badges anywhere.
For those who saw the clues, it was a sign. The new coupes were more than just a product and halo car showcase.
For Toyota, it signaled a turning point that Gazoo Racing was going to grow even more. After finding success with the Supra revival and the second-gen 86, both of which are badged as GR models (GR Supra, GR86) the automaker chose to keep the momentum going.
Then came the GR Corolla, the GR Yaris in Europe and Asia. And now, the division says we can expect more fun models to be on the way. But fans and enthusiasts are also probably wondering, “what does this mean for Toyota Racing Development, or TRD?”
Well, we’re wondering about that too. But Toyota hasn’t really explained what GR means for TRD.
TRD was once Toyota’s official performance division. But with GR likely replacing it, it’s safe to say TRD is probably falling to the wayside and into the pages of Toyota history.
With the official establishment of Gazoo Racing as Toyota’s in-house performance branch, this, of course, means we can expect more fun, performance models in the near future.
Details are limited. But so far, speculation has the automotive world anticipating several new arrivals. Such include a new sixth-gen Supra, an MR2 revival at Toyota’s press conference in a couple of days, and even a next-gen GR Corolla.
But one thing all of these performance models will share in common: they won’t be branded as Toyotas. To keep with Gazoo Racing’s ethos of being a standalone sub-brand, Toyota’s treating the division as its own separate entity
GR will operate similarly to Lexus and its other sub-brands, Daihatsu and the more recently established Century.
But GR won’t just be sticking to road-going production cars. It’ll continue doubling as Toyota’s motorsports division with plans to compete in all the top racing leagues, including the FIA World Rally Championship.
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